TICKET sales for rail travel in Gwent have dropped dramatically in 2020/21, with some areas recording more than an 80 per cent reduction in travellers.

There have been far fewer people travelling by train across the UK, with only 687 millions people using railways in 2020/21 compared to around 3 billion in 2019/20 - a drop of 77 per cent.

In Gwent, the busiest station was Newport, with 543,000 entries and exits by passengers recorded in 2020/21.

In 2019/20 there were 2.7 million passengers, meaning that the station has had the fewest people travelling to and from the station since comparable records began in 1997.

In fact, all major train stations in Gwent had the fewest amount of passengers in 2020/21 for 24 years.

Torfaen performed slightly better than other areas of Gwent for rail travel, but still saw a 73 per cent drop in passengers.

Caerphilly was hardest hit by the lack of passengers and saw a drop of 87 per cent across the 16 stations in the area.

Most figures are based on ticket sales.

Covid hit the railway industry hard, but leisure travels are said to be back at pre-pandemic levels.

However, with more businesses opting to continue with working from home models, it is likely that far fewer commuters will need to travel by train in the future.

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